Bluetooth connection establishment

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the current disclosure facilitate the creation of a wireless connection between a host device and an accessory device over a wireless medium. For instance, according to some embodiments, a method of connecting an accessory device to a host device includes transmitting a plurality of advertising beacons over a wireless medium. Each wireless beacon can contain information identifying a predetermined time when the accessory device will begin a page scan. The accessory device can begin the page scan at the predetermined time and can receive pages from a host device during a page scan window of the page scan over the wireless medium. The received pages can then be subsequently used to establish an ad hoc network connection between the accessory device and the host device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/270,482, titled “Bluetooth Connection Establishment,” filedon Sep. 20, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

Ad hoc wireless networks including a host and one or more accessorydevices have become common in recent years. An example ad hoc networkincludes a wireless device, such as a smart phone, and an accessory,such as wireless headphones, connected to the smart phone through whichtelephone calls and/or music can be streamed. Wireless ad hoc networks(e.g., Bluetooth networks) provide convenient and reliable connectionsbetween various devices. However, these networks can also be the causeof frustration due to, for instance, delays with establishing the ad hocnetwork. Delays can negatively impact a user's experience with usage ofthe devices over the network.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the current disclosure facilitate the creation of aconnection between a host device and an accessory device over a wirelessmedium. For instance, according to some embodiments, a method ofconnecting one or more accessory devices to a host device is provided.The method can include wirelessly transmitting a plurality ofadvertising beacons. In some embodiments, an advertising beacon maycontain information identifying a predetermined time when the accessorydevice will begin a page scan. The accessory device may begin the pagescan at the predetermined time, and may then receive pages from a hostdevice over the wireless medium during the page scan. One or more of thereceived pages may then be used to establish an ad hoc networkconnection between the accessory device and the host device.

In some embodiments, an advertising beacon may include informationidentifying any/all of a duration of a page scan window, a value of aclock for the accessory device at the beginning of the page scan window,information identifying a channel to be used during the page scanwindow, and/or a temporal offset from a time the advertised beacon istransmitted to the beginning of the page scan window. In someembodiments, the advertising beacons may be implemented as Bluetooth lowenergy beacons or beacons that comply with other radio protocols.Further, the advertising beacons can be transmitted at any point intime, including at regular or dynamically determined intervals.Furthermore, one or more of the advertising beacons may containdynamically updated information. In some embodiments, the transmissionof the advertising beacons and the beginning of the page scan window mayinvolve a set of operations that cannot be interrupted and that must becompleted before another operation can begin.

Some embodiments may include devices and methods for establishing aconnection over a wireless medium between those devices, e.g., betweenan accessory device and a host device. The methods may include receivingan advertising beacon containing information that identifies a time whenthe accessory device will begin a page scan window. The host device maythen page during the page scan window, e.g., at/after the beginning ofthe page scan window as indicated by the advertising beacon. The hostdevice may then connect with the accessory device over the wirelessmedium. According to some embodiments, the host device may alsodetermine whether the accessory device is proximate to the host device,e.g., based on one or more received advertising beacons.

In some embodiments, a second beacon that also contains informationidentifying the time at which the accessory device will begin the pagescan can also be transmitted/received. As a result of differingtransmission times, the information in the second beacon may differ fromthe information contained in the first beacon, but the information canstill identify the same time at which the accessory device will beginthe page scan.

Other embodiments include devices and methods of initiating a connectionbetween a host device and an accessory device. According to someembodiments, the host device may determine that an accessory device isproximate to the host device. The host device can then transmit aconnection request to the accessory device. The connection request caninclude, among other things, information identifying a value of a hostdevice clock. The host device can then receive an acknowledgement fromthe accessory device. A connection between the accessory device and thehost device can then be made, e.g., in order to create an ad hocwireless network.

In some embodiments, the host device may determine that the accessorydevice is proximate to the host device by detecting one or more wirelessbeacons transmitted by the accessory device. The one or more wirelessbeacons may be implemented as Bluetooth low energy beacons or beaconsthat comply with other radio protocols, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, devices for and methods of initiating a wirelessconnection between an accessory device and a host device are provided.According to some embodiments, one or more advertising beacons may betransmitted by the accessory device. The accessory device may thenreceive a connection request from the host device. The connectionrequest may include information identifying the value of a host deviceclock. The local clock of the accessory device may be synchronized withthe clock of the host device, and a connection with the host device maybe initiated using the synchronized local clock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in whichcorresponding reference symbols indicate corresponding parts. Further,the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, form part ofthe specification and illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1. is a functional block diagram depicting an example of anaccessory device in an environment with a plurality of host devicesaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example communication between a hostdevice and an accessory device according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting example signals transmitted by anaccessory device according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting example signals transmitted between anaccessory device and a host device according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting an example method of establishing awireless connection between a host device and an accessory deviceaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting an example method of establishing awireless connection between a host device and an accessory deviceaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a diagram depicting example signals transmitted between anaccessory device and a host device according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting an example method of establishing awireless connection between a host device and an accessory deviceaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting an example method of establishing awireless connection between a host device and an accessory deviceaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram depicting an example computersystem that can be used to implement various aspects of embodiments ofthis disclosure.

The features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosurewill become more apparent from the detailed description set forth belowwhen taken in conjunction with the drawings. In the drawings, likereference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar,and/or structurally similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram depicting an example of anaccessory device 102 in an environment 100 with a plurality of hostdevices 104 ₁-104 ₇ (also generically referred to herein as “host device104”) according to some embodiments. FIG. 1 shows the accessory device102 connected to the host device 104 ₃ via a wireless network connectionsuch as, for example, an ad hoc wireless connection 106. The host device104 ₃ may be a device from a wide assortment of different devices. Forinstance, the host device 104 ₃ may include any/all of laptop computers,desktop computers, smart phones, tablet computers, wearable devices(such as an Apple Watch™), human interface devices, speaker devices,headphone devices, multimedia devices (such as an Apple TV™), etc. Basedon the disclosure herein, a person of ordinary skill in art willunderstand that each of the host devices 104 ₁₋₇ can form an ad hocwireless connection with the accessory device 102—similar to the ad hocwireless connection 106 formed between the host device 104 ₃ and theaccessory device 102. Further, similar to the host device 104 ₃, thehost devices 104 ₁₋₂ and 104 ₄₋₇ can be a device from a wide assortmentof different devices such as the devices listed above.

The accessory device 102 may be any computing device, including any of awireless headset, keyboard, mouse, track pad, computer, tablet, smartphone, media device, printer, smart appliance, wearable, sensor, or thelike. Indeed, in some embodiments, any/all of the accessory devices alsomay be capable of functioning as a host device in the ad hoc wirelessconnection 106. In practice, the ad hoc wireless connection 106 may beformed between the accessory device 102 and one or more of the hostdevices 104 ₁₋₇. In some embodiments, formation of the ad hoc wirelessconnection 106 can occur (or be initiated) by the accessory device 102transmitting a plurality of advertising beacons over a wireless medium.One or more of the advertising beacons may be received by one or more ofthe host devices 104. At least one of the advertising beacons mayinclude, among possible other things, information identifying a time atwhich the accessory device 102 will initiate a page scan. The accessorydevice 102 can then initiate the page scan at the identified time andreceive one or more pages, e.g., from one or more host devices 104. Theconnection between the host device 104 and the accessory device 102 canthen be established using the received page.

For simplicity and explanation purposes, one ad hoc wirelessconnection—ad hoc wireless connection 106—is shown in FIG. 1. Based onthe disclosure herein, a person of ordinary skill in art will understandthat multiple ad hoc networks can exist in the environment shown inFIG. 1. For example, each of the host devices 104 ₁-104 ₇ can form aseparate ad hoc network with the accessory device 102. In anotherexample, multiple host devices from the host devices 104 ₁-104 ₇ canform an ad hoc network with the accessory device 102.

FIG. 2 is a diagram 200 depicting an example communication by a hostdevice 204 (e.g., host device 104 from FIG. 1) to an accessory device202 (e.g., accessory device 102 from FIG. 1) when the host and accessorydevices attempt to establish a communication connection with oneanother, according to some embodiments. The example signals in diagram200 are plotted against a time axis 210. As shown in FIG. 2, the hostdevice 204 may transmit a series of signal trains 206, in which eachsignal train includes one or more pages 210. The example of FIG. 2depicts the signal trains 206 as Train A and Train B, but more or fewertrains could be used in accordance with the scope and spirit of thisdisclosure. In some embodiments, the signal trains 206 may beimplemented as Bluetooth pages. Each of the trains has a particularduration. For instance, as shown in the example of FIG. 2, Train A has aduration of T_(P1) and Train B has a duration of T_(P2). The respectivedurations of the trains, e.g., Train A and Train B, can be the same orcan differ. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the trains, e.g., Train Aand Train B, may be transmitted on the same channel or on differentchannels.

The accessory device 202 may periodically open a page scan window 208such as, for example, page scan windows 208A and 208B shown in FIG. 2.The page scan window 208A may roughly correspond to Train A transmittedby the host device 104. Similarly, the page scan window 208B may roughlycorrespond to Train B transmitted by the host device 204. Each of thepage scan windows 208A and 208B may also have a corresponding duration(or period). For instance, the page scan window 208A can have a durationT_(W1) and the page scan window 208B can have a duration T_(W2). Itshould be noted, that FIG. 2 is merely for illustrative purposes and noattempt has been made to depict the windows 208 of the accessory device202 and the transmissions of the host device 204 to either a relative orabsolute scale.

In some embodiments, the accessory device 202 detects, during the pagescan window 208, one or more of the pages 210 associated with one of thetrains 206 transmitted by the host device 204. Once the accessory device202 detects a page 210 transmitted by the host device 204, the procedurefor establishing a baseband connection can be followed, and the hostdevice 204 and the accessory device 202 form a connection—e.g., ad hocwireless connection 106 from FIG. 1.

Since page scanning can consume a significant amount of power, it can beadvantageous to reduce the size of the page scan windows 208. Forexample, using shorter page scan windows 208 can reduce powerconsumption, thereby prolonging battery life. However, when the pagescan window is too small, the page scan window 208 may not align withpages 210 transmitted by the host device 204. Consequently, several pagescan windows 208 may be needed for the accessory device 202 to detectone or more pages 210 transmitted by the host device 204. This can delayestablishment of the wireless connection (e.g., ad hoc wirelessconnection 106 from FIG. 1) between the host device 204 and theaccessory device 202.

When the accessory device 202 can indicate to the host device 204 thetime at which it intends to begin a page scan window 208, a connectioncan be established more quickly and battery/power consumption associatedwith scanning and paging can be reduced. This arrangement is describedin more detail with respect to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a diagram 300 depicting example signals transmitted by adevice, e.g., the accessory device 102 from FIG. 1, over time, accordingto some embodiments. The example signals in diagram 300 are plottedagainst a time axis 310. The diagram 300 shown in FIG. 3 is intended todepict signals functionally and no attempt has been made to show thesignals to either an absolute or relative scale. As shown in FIG. 3, theaccessory device transmits one or more beacons 302 (e.g., advertisingbeacons) during an advertising window 304 and then performs a page scan308 (at a later time) during a page scan window 306.

To expedite connection establishment between the accessory device and ahost device, e.g., a host device 104 from FIG. 1, the accessory devicemay transmit, as part of the beacons 302, information pertaining to thepage scan 308 it intends to perform. For instance, one or more of thebeacons 302 may contain timing information that informs a receiving hostdevice of the time at which the accessory device will begin its pagescan 308. In some embodiments, the timing information may take the formof a temporal offset from the time at which each individual beacon 302is transmitted (sent). For instance, if the accessory device intends tobegin its page scan 308 at t=10, then a beacon 302 sent at t=0 couldindicate a temporal offset of 10 and a beacon 302 sent at t=1 couldindicate a temporal offset of 9, and so on. Accordingly, the informationcontained in a beacon 302 may be generated dynamically and the contentand/or format included in beacons 302 may differ from one another.Alternately or additionally, the information in some beacons 302 canindicate an absolute time at which the page scan 308 is to begin (e.g.,at t=10 in the example). In some embodiments, the beacons 302 may beimplemented as beacons that comply with the Bluetooth low energystandard or other radio protocols. Further, in some embodiments, thebeacons 302 may be transmitted using two or more (different) protocols,using two or more different formats, and/or on two or more differentchannels.

When the host device receives one or more of the beacons 302 sent by theaccessory device, the host device can schedule its paging to occurduring a scheduled page scan 308 identified in the received beacon(s).In this way, the host device can increase the likelihood that theaccessory device will receive one or more pages during the correspondingpage scan 308. Further, the implementation can reduce the number ofbeacons 302 transmitted by the accessory device to establish an ad hocnetwork connection (e.g., ad hoc wireless connection 106 from FIG. 1)with the host device.

In some embodiments, in addition to information informing the hostdevice about the time the page scan 308 will begin, the beacon 302 mayinclude information identifying any/all of a duration of a page scanwindow 306, a value of a clock of the accessory device at the time whenthe beacon 302 was sent, a value of a clock of the accessory device atthe beginning of the page scan window 306, and/or informationidentifying a channel to be used during the page scan window 306.Indeed, in some embodiments, some or all of this information may beprovided instead of the information regarding when the page scan 308will begin. According to some embodiments, a portion of the page scanwindow 306 may overlap with a portion of the advertising window 304,such that the page scan window 306 at least partially overlaps in timewith one or more of the advertising beacons 302. Additionally, accordingto some embodiments, the advertising window 304 and the page scan window306 may be uninterruptable, such that the respective window must becompleted (elapse or fail) prior to any subsequent operation beginning.

FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 depicting example signals transmitted between anaccessory device 402 (e.g., accessory device 102 from FIG. 1) and a hostdevice 404 (e.g., host device 104 from FIG. 1) according to someembodiments. As shown in FIG. 4, the accessory device 402 may firsttransmit a plurality of beacons 412 (e.g., advertising beacons), one ormore of which may be received by the host device 404. The beacons mayinclude information pertaining to a page scan (e.g., page scan 308 fromFIG. 3) that will be performed at some point in the future. Forinstance, the beacons may contain information identifying the time atwhich the accessory device 402 will begin the page scan. The time atwhich the page scan will begin may be represented using an absolute timereference or as a temporal offset from the scheduled time, according tosome embodiments. In addition or alternately, the beacons may includeinformation identifying a duration of the page scan window, a value of aclock for the accessory device at the beginning of the page scan window,and/or information identifying a channel that will be used during thepage scan window. One or more other items of information can also beincluded in the beacons.

After transmitting the plurality of beacons (for instance, after the endof the advertising window 304 in FIG. 3), the accessory device 402 canbegin its page scan 414 (opening the page scan window 306 in FIG. 3) atthe predetermined time and/or channel. The host device 404 can thentransmit one or more pages 416, which can be aligned in time with thepage scan window of the accessory device 402. Upon receiving the one ormore pages during the page scan window, a wireless connection 418 (e.g.,ad hoc wireless connection 106 in FIG. 1) can then be establishedbetween the accessory device 402 and the host device 404.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting an example method 500 for establishing awireless connection between a host device (e.g., host device 104 fromFIG. 1) and an accessory device (e.g., accessory device 102 from FIG.1). For convenience, FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.1-4, but method 500 should not be understood to be limited to thespecific embodiments depicted in those figures.

As shown in FIG. 5, method 500 begins at 502 by the accessory devicetransmitting a plurality of beacons (e.g., beacons 302 from FIG. 3)including information relating to a page scan that will occur at afuture time. The beacons can include information pertaining to a pagescan window (e.g., page scan window 306 from FIG. 3) that it will openat some point in the future. For instance, the beacons may containinformation identifying the time at which the accessory device willbegin the page scan, which may be represented as an absolute timereference or as a temporal offset from the time the page scan windowwill begin. Additionally or alternately, one or more beacons may includeinformation identifying any/all of a duration of the page scan window, avalue of a clock for the accessory device at the beginning of the pagescan window, and/or information identifying a channel that will be usedduring the page scan window.

At 504, the accessory device may wait until the time representing thebeginning of the page scan window, as advertised by the beacons. Whensuch time occurs, at 506, the accessory device may begin the page scan.During the page scan, the accessory device can receive one or more pagesfrom the host device at 508. In response to receiving one or more pagesfrom the host device, a wireless connection can be established betweenthe accessory device and the host device at 510.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting an example method 600 of establishing aconnection (e.g., a baseband connection or ad hoc wireless connection106) between a host device (e.g., host device 104 from FIG. 1) and anaccessory device (e.g., accessory device 102 from FIG. 1). Forconvenience, FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-4, butmethod 600 should not be understood to be limited to the specificembodiments depicted those figures.

Method 600 begins at 602 when the host device receives one or morebeacons (e.g., beacons 302 from FIG. 3) transmitted by the accessorydevice. The beacons may contain information identifying a time when theaccessory device will begin a page scan, which may be represented as anabsolute time reference or as a temporal offset from the time the pagescan window will begin, according to some embodiments. Additionally oralternately, one or more of the beacons may include informationidentifying any/all of a duration of the page scan window, a value of aclock for the accessory device at the beginning of the page scan window,and/or information identifying a channel that will be used during thepage scan window. One or more other items of information can also beincluded in a beacon.

At 604, the host device waits until the time at which the page scanwindow advertised in the accessory device's beacon(s) is open. When thepage scan window is open, the host device can transmit one or more pagesat 606. After the one or more pages are received by the accessorydevice, a wireless connection between the host device and the accessorydevice can be established at 608.

Another way to potentially reduce latency when initiating a connectionbetween a host device (e.g., host device 104 from FIG. 1) and anaccessory device (e.g., accessory device 102 from FIG. 1) is for thehost device to provide certain information to the accessory device priorto the initiation of the connection, according to some embodiments. Suchan approach is shown in the example of FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 depicting example signals transmitted by anaccessory device 702 (e.g. an accessory device 102 in FIG. 1) and a hostdevice 704 (e.g., a host device 104 from FIG. 1), according to someembodiments. The example signals in diagram 700 are plotted against atime axis 716. In method 700, a page scan operation is not implemented,thus saving power and connection time according to some embodiments. Ascan be seen in FIG. 7, the accessory device 702 transmits a number ofbeacons 706. In some embodiments, the beacons 706 may be implemented asBluetooth low energy beacons or beacons that comply with other radioprotocols. In other embodiments, the beacons 706 may also or alternatelybe implemented as the modified beacons described above (e.g., beacons302 from FIG. 3). In some embodiments, the beacons 706 may betransmitted using two or more (different) protocols, using two or moredifferent formats, and/or on two or more different channels. Further, insome embodiments, the content and/or format of the beacons 706 can vary,such that the beacons 706 need not be identical to one another.

The host device 704 can detect one or more of the beacons 706 during abeacon scan window 708. When the host device 704 detects one or more ofthe beacons 706, it can determine that the accessory device 702 is inclose physical proximity to the host device 704—e.g., within aneffective communication range or other range threshold. In addition oralternately, the host device 704 may determine that the accessory device702 is in close physical proximity to the host device 704 afteranalyzing a characteristic of one or more of the beacons 706 such as,for example, one or more of signal strength, a signal-to-noise ratio, abit error rate, accessory device state information, transmit power,etc., or any combination thereof. In such a case, the host device 704may conclude that it is in close physical proximity to the accessorydevice if one or more characteristics of the beacons 706 compare in apredetermined manner (e.g., above and/or below) with a correspondingthreshold for that characteristic. In some embodiments, if the hostdevice 704 would like to connect to the accessory device 702, it cantransmit a connection request 710 that includes a value of the hostdevice clock. The accessory device 702 can synchronize its local clockwith the host device clock to assist with establishing a wirelessconnection between the accessory device 702 and the host device 704. Insome embodiments, the host device 704 may poll 712 the accessory device702, which can acknowledge 714 with a message such as a null message.This shall be described further with reference to FIG. 8, which is aflowchart depicting an example method 800 of establishing a wirelessconnection between a host device (e.g., host device 104 from FIG. 1) andan accessory device (e.g., accessory device 102 from FIG. 1), accordingto some embodiments. For convenience, FIG. 8 will be described withreference to FIGS. 1-7, but method 800 should not be understood to belimited to the specific embodiments depicted in those figures.

Method 800 begins at 802 with transmission of a plurality of beacons(e.g., beacons 706 from FIG. 7) by an accessory device. In someembodiments, the beacons may include Bluetooth low energy beacons orbeacons that comply with other radio protocols. The beacons may also oralternately be implemented as the modified beacons described above(e.g., beacons 302 from FIG. 3). In response to the beacons, at 804, theaccessory device may receive a connection request (e.g., connectionrequest 710 from FIG. 7) from a host device. The connection request mayalso include a value of a host device clock, e.g., for synchronizationpurposes. At 806, the accessory device may synchronize its local clockwith the host device clock received in the connection request. Aconnection can then be established between the host device and theaccessory device. At 808, a poll (e.g., poll 712 from FIG. 7) can bereceived from the host device and at 810, the accessory device canacknowledge the poll (e.g., acknowledgement 714 from FIG. 7).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting an example method 900 of establishing awireless connection between a host device, e.g., a host device 104, andan accessory device, e.g., an accessory device 102, according to someembodiments. For convenience, FIG. 9 will be described with reference toFIGS. 1-7, but method 900 should not be understood to be limited to thespecific embodiments depicted those figures.

As shown in FIG. 9, method 900 begins at 902 when a host device receivesone or more advertising beacons (e.g., beacons 706 from FIG. 7) from anaccessory device. In some embodiments, the beacons may be implemented asBluetooth low energy beacons or beacons that comply with other radioprotocols. The beacons alternatively may be implemented as the modifiedbeacons described above (e.g., beacons 302 from FIG. 3). The receivedbeacons allow the host device to determine that the accessory device isin close physical proximity to the host device at 904. In response todetermining that the devices are in close proximity, the host devicetransmits a connection request (e.g., connection request 710 from FIG.7) to the accessory device at 906. According to some embodiments, theconnection request may include information relating to a value of thehost device clock. At 908, a wireless connection (e.g., a basebandconnection or ad hoc wireless connection 106) can be established betweenthe host device and the accessory device.

Various embodiments can be implemented, for example, using one or morewell-known computer systems, such as computer system 1000 shown in FIG.10. For instance, each of the components and/or operations describedwith reference to FIGS. 1-9 could be implemented using one or morecomputer systems 1000 or portions thereof. The computer system 1000 canbe any computer capable of performing the functions described herein.

The computer system 1000 includes one or more processors (also calledcentral processing units, or CPUs), such as a processor 1004. Theprocessor 1006 is connected to a communication infrastructure or bus1006.

The processor 1006 may be, for example, a graphics processing unit(GPU). In some embodiments, the GPU is a processor that is a specializedelectronic circuit designed to process mathematically intensiveapplications. The GPU may have a parallel structure that is efficientfor parallel processing of large blocks of data, such as mathematicallyintensive data common to computer graphics applications, images, videos,etc.

The computer system 1000 also includes user input/output/displaydevice(s) 1022, such as monitors, keyboards, pointing devices, etc.,that communicate with communication infrastructure 1004.

The computer system 1000 also includes a main or primary memory 1008,such as random access memory (RAM). The main memory 1008 may include oneor more levels of cache. The main memory 1008 has stored therein controllogic 1028A (e.g., computer software) and/or data.

The computer system 1000 may also include one or more secondary storagedevices or memory 1010. The secondary memory 1010 may include, forexample, a hard disk drive 1012 and/or a removable storage device ordrive 1014. The removable storage drive 1014 may be a floppy disk drive,a magnetic tape drive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device,tape backup device, and/or any other storage device/drive.

The removable storage drive 1014 may interact with a removable storageunit 1016. The removable storage unit 1018 includes a computer usable orreadable storage device having stored therein control logic 1028B (e.g.,computer software) and/or data. The removable storage unit 1018 may be afloppy disk, magnetic tape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk,and/any other computer data storage device. The removable storage drive1014 reads from and/or writes to the removable storage unit 1016.

The computer system 1000 may further include a communication or networkinterface 1018. The communication interface 1018 enables the computersystem 1000 to communicate and interact with any combination of remotedevices, remote networks, remote entities, etc. (individually andcollectively referenced by reference number 1030). For example,communication interface 1018 may allow the computer system 1000 tocommunicate with remote devices 1030 over a communications path 1026,which may be wired and/or wireless, and which may include anycombination of LANs, WANs, the Internet, etc. Control logic and/or datamay be transmitted to and from computer system 1000 via communicationpath 1026.

In some embodiments, a tangible apparatus or article of manufactureincluding a tangible computer useable or readable medium having controllogic (software) stored thereon is also referred to herein as a“computer program product” or “program storage device.” This includes,but is not limited to, the computer system 1000, the main memory 1008,the secondary memory 1010, and the removable storage unit 1016, as wellas tangible articles of manufacture embodying any combination of theforegoing. Such control logic, when executed by one or more dataprocessing devices (such as the computer system 1000), causes such dataprocessing devices to operate as described herein.

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpretthe claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or morebut not all exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure ascontemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit thepresent disclosure and the appended claims in any way.

The present disclosure has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functionalbuilding blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenienceof the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the disclosure so that others can, byapplying knowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/oradapt for various applications such specific embodiments, without undueexperimentation, without departing from the general concept of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications areintended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of thedisclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presentedherein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminologyherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, suchthat the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is tobe interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings andguidance.

The breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited byany of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be definedonly in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

The claims in the instant application are different than those of anyparent application or other related applications. The Applicanttherefore rescinds any disclaimer of claim scope made in the parentapplication or any predecessor or related application in relation to theinstant application. The Examiner is therefore advised that any suchprevious disclaimer and the cited references that it was made to avoid,may need to be revisited. Further, the Examiner is also reminded thatany disclaimer made in the instant application should not be read intoor against the parent or related application(s).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wirelessly connecting an accessorydevice to a host device, the method comprising: transmitting, by theaccessory device, a plurality of advertising beacons over a wirelessmedium to the host device, wherein at least one of the plurality ofadvertising beacons comprises information identifying a time at whichthe accessory device will initiate a page scan to receive one or morepages from the host device; initiating, by the accessory device, thepage scan at the identified time, wherein the identified time is afterthe plurality of advertising beacons are transmitted; receiving, by theaccessory device, the one or more pages from the host device during thepage scan; and establishing a wireless connection with the host devicein response to the received one or more pages.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one of the plurality of advertising beaconsincludes information identifying a duration of the page scan.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality ofadvertising beacons includes information identifying a value of a clockof the accessory device at a beginning of the page scan.
 4. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of advertisingbeacons includes information identifying a channel to be used during thepage scan.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifyingthe time at which the accessory device will initiate the page scancomprises a temporal offset between a time when a last one of theplurality of advertising beacons is transmitted and a time the page scanis initiated.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting theplurality of advertising beacons further comprises transmitting theplurality of advertising beacons during an advertising window prior tothe page scan.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the pluralityof advertising beacons comprises a Bluetooth low energy beacon.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein transmitting the plurality of advertisingbeacons comprises transmitting the plurality of advertising beacons atregular intervals.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:dynamically updating the information included in the at least one of theplurality of advertising beacons of the plurality of advertisingbeacons.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the page scancomprises partially overlapping in time the page scan with thetransmission of one or more of the plurality of advertising beacons. 11.A method of wirelessly establishing a connection between a host deviceand an accessory device, the method comprising: receiving, at the hostdevice, an advertising beacon from the accessory device, wherein theadvertising beacon comprises information identifying a time when theaccessory device will begin a page scan to receive one or more pagesfrom the host device; generating, at the host device and in response tothe advertising beacon, a page; transmitting, by the host device, thepage after the identified time when the accessory device will begin thepage scan, wherein the identified time is after a time the advertisingbeacon was received at the host device; and establishing a connectionwith the accessory device through a wireless medium.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: determining, based at least in part on thereceived advertising beacon, that the accessory device is withinproximity of the host device.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein theinformation identifying the time when the accessory device will beginthe page scan comprises a temporal offset until the page scan willbegin.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the advertising beaconincludes information identifying a duration of a page scan windowcorresponding to the page scan.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein theadvertising beacon includes information identifying a value of a clockof the accessory device at a beginning of a page scan windowcorresponding to the page scan.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein theadvertising beacon includes information identifying a channel theaccessory device will use during the page scan.
 17. The method of claim11, wherein the advertising beacon comprises a Bluetooth low energybeacon.
 18. The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving asecond beacon comprising information identifying the time when theaccessory device will begin the page scan.
 19. A method of initiating aconnection between a host device and an accessory device, the methodcomprising: receiving, at the host device, one or more advertisingbeacons transmitted by the accessory device, wherein the one or moreadvertising beacons comprises information identifying a time at whichthe accessory device will begin a page scan to receive one or more pagesfrom the host device; determining, at the host device, and based atleast in part on the advertising one or more beacons transmitted by theaccessory device, that the accessory device is proximate to the hostdevice; transmitting, by the host device, a connection request to theaccessory device, the connection request comprising informationidentifying a value of a clock of the host device; after transmittingthe connection request, receiving an acknowledgement from the accessorydevice; and connecting with the accessory device to form an ad hocwireless network.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or moreadvertising beacons further comprises information on a duration of thepage scan, information on a channel to be used during the page scan, ora combination thereof.